who_are_behind_super_pacsfandomcom-20200213-history
Priorities USA Action (pro-Obama)
Donors giving $1M+ to Priorities Action USA through 11/30/12, according to ProPublica's PAC Track : James Simons -- Group # 1 *Chairman, Renaissance Technologies Corp. (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Fred Eychaner -- Do not select this donor (appears on another page) Steve Mostyn -- Group # 2 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Jeffrey Katzenberg -- Group # 3 *CEO, DreamWorks Animation **According to Bloomberg Businessweek, "DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. engages in the development, production, and exploitation of animated films and associated characters worldwide. The company operates through two reportable segments, Film and TV Specials/Series, and Classic Media." *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $3M *Other PACs donated to: **Majority Pac--$100K **House Majority Pac--$25K *Muckety Map *Wikipedia page: Jeffrey Katzenberg *Political motivations: Katzenberg identifies to the Democratic Party. In recent politics, he has strongly allied himself with Barack Obama. By supporting Barack Obama's Priorities USA Action PAC, Katzenberg hopes to expand the boarders of DreamWorks Animation. The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin reports that prior to Katzenberg's announcement of Oriental DreamWorks, he had met with Chinese vice president, Hilary Clinton, and Joe Biden. It is suggested that it was at this meeting that Katzenberg discussed the Oriental DreamWorks project and that the conversation was facilitated by Biden and Clinton. In order to create Oriental DreamWorks, it was vital for Katzenberg to see that there would be a newly created deal that would open China up to more film production. Besides this, Katzenberg hoped to gain some sort of reputable figure that would allow for proper profit sharing to the U.S DreamWorks Animation studio. Without political involvement, it is safe to say that Katzenberg's vision of Oriental DreamWorks wouldn't have really gone anywhere. Irwin Jacobs -- Group # 4 - Trevor Hussmann *Information Requested, Information Requested *According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs is a Co-founder of QUALCOMM Inc. and served as its Chief Executive Officer until July 2005. He is the founding chairman and CEO emeritus of Qualcomm. *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $2.2M *Other PACs donated to: **American Bridge 21st Century -- $100K **Majority PAC -- $100K **Priorities USA Action -- $2M *Muckety Map (link to): http://www.muckety.com/Irwin-Mark-Jacobs/21102.muckety *Wikipedia page: Irwin Jacobs (link to): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_M._Jacobs *Political motivations: Irwin Jacobs is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the IEEE. He is a chairman on the Salk Institue of Biological Studies, and is on the international advisory board for the Israel Institute of Technology. Additionally, he serves on the advisory board for the School of Economics and Management at Tsing Hua University in Beijing. He is also active on the board of directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles. Anne Chambers -- Group # 5 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: John Stryker -- Group # 6 -- Lawrence McCrary *Billionaire, Stryker Corperation * According to Forbes, Jon Stryker, "one of three heirs to the Stryker medical equipment company, was identified as one of the top five donors to President Obama's reelection campaign." (link tohttp://www.forbes.com/profile/jon-stryker/ ) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $2M *Other PACs donated to: **House Majority PAC -- $250K *Muckety Map (link to)http://www.muckety.com/Jon-L-Stryker/38094.muckety *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stryker *Political motivations: The New York Times reports that Jon Stryker is a Gay rights activist and founder of the Arcus Foundation which fights social injustice and is an advocate for gay rights. http://www.arcusfoundation.org/socialjustice http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/jon+stryker Henry Laufer -- Dr.Corrigan *Retired, N/A *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $110K *Other PACs donated to: **Priorities USA Action -- $1.5M Ann Wyckoff -- Group # 8 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: David Shaw -- Do not select this donor (appears on another page) S. Daniel Abraham -- Group # 9 *Investor, Beach Capital Management, LLC *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $1.2 M *Other PACs donated to: **House Majority PAC--$200K **Majority PAC--$175K *Muckety Map *Wikipedia page: S. Daniel Abraham *Political motivations: Michael Snow -- Group # 10 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Stephen Spielberg -- Group # 1 *Title, Co Principal, Dreamworks Animation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamWorks) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $1.1 Million *Other PACs donated to: **Priorities USA Action-- $1 million *Muckety Map (http://www.muckety.com/Steven-Spielberg/2626.muckety) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg) *Political motivations: Spielberg usually supports U.S. Democratic Party candidates. He has donated over $800,000 to the Democratic party and its nominees He was also good friends with Bill Clinton. He is a supporter of gay marraige and he took his stance in September 2008. In September 2008, Spielberg and his wife offered their support to same-sex marriage, by issuing a statement following their donation of $100,000 to the "No on Proposition 8" campaign fund, a figure equal to the amount of money Brad Pitt donated to the same campaign less than a week prior. He endorsed Hillary Clinton even though he had a party for Barrack Obama. Barbara Stiefel -- Group # 2 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Alida Messinger -- Group # 3 *Political Consultant, Self-Employed *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $1M *Other PACs donated to: **None *Muckety Map *Wikipedia page: Alida Rockefeller Messinger *Political motivations: Messinger identifies and supports the Democractic party. Born of the wealthy Rockefeller family, Messinger comes from a long line of philantropists. As such Messinger, and her family in general, give to charitable funds that support art, science, health, and civil rights according to theNew York Times. Messinger herself is especially interested in conservationist and environmentalist organizations. Because of her interest in the environment, Messinger is a supporter of the Democratic party who regard environmental preservation and restoration as one of their top priorities. Messinger also funds environmentalist groups through her Alida R. Messinger Charitable Trust according to her Wikipedia page. Messinger is also a financial contributer to the Center for Public Integrity. In 2004 Messinger donated $1M to the 527-organization, a Democrat supporting organization. Mel Heifetz -- Group # 4 - Trevor Hussmann and Kenneth Hernandez *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to): http://www.muckety.com/Mel-Heifetz/213542.muckety *Wikipedia page: Mel Heifetz (link to): Not Available *Political motivations: Mel Heifetz gave money to political causes and charities that he cared about because he likes to help those in need. He has a good life that he worked hard to create and is able to share his good fortune knowing that he has more than he needs and enjoys sharing with others. He does not like to talk about it most of the time, but when it motivates others to join him and give, it is well worth the exposure. Amy Goldman -- Group # 5 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Sidney Kimmel -- Group # 6 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Vinod Khosla -- Group # 7 *Venture Capitalist, Khosla Ventures *total donated 1million *Other PACs donated to: **Priorities USA Action$1M **Donor company: http://www.businessweek.com/search?q=vinod+khosla **According to khoslaventures.com, Khosla is a charter member of TiE, a not-for-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals founded in 1992 that now has more than forty chapters in nine countries. Also mentioned in cironline.org, Khosla is a supporter of green technology, and in 2009, Khosla Ventures raised more than $1 billion to start a venture capital fund specifically for backing green technology companies. **Muckety Map: http://www.muckety.com/Vinod-Khosla/1656.muckety **Wikepedia page: Vinod Khosla ** In gathering information about Vinod Khosla from Wikipedia, I found that there was a section in the article about him that reads as follows: ** "Khosla formed his own venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures in 2004. The firm is based in Menlo Park, California,[8] and manages approximately $1 billion of investor capital as well as investments funded by Khosla himself." ** "Khosla was a major proponent of the "Yes on 87" campaign to pass California's Proposition 87, The Clean Energy Initiative, which failed to pass in November 2006." Reid Hoffman -- Group # 8 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: David Boies, Jr. -- Group # 9 *Attorney, Boeis Schiller and Flexner, LLC *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $1M *Other PACs donated to: **N/A *Muckety Map *Wikipedia page: David Boies, Jr. *Political motivations:David Boies Jr. is a strong advocate of equal rights, and thus is a strong supporter of gay rights. According to a Huffington Post article, Boise has partnered up with Theodore B. Olsen to represent the challengers of Proposition 8. In a commencement speech that he recently gave at New York University, he stated that “If you think about it, prohibiting people from getting married because of their sexual orientation is no different than the prohibition that the State of Virginia had in 1967 that prohibited people of different races form marrying.” By this we can see that he is extremely passionate about gay rights, and that he believes that prohibiting people from marring because of their sexual orientation is a way of discrimination. Since Obama has spoken in favor of gay marriage several times, it would be smart to conclude that this can be the reason why Boies donates millions of dollars to his campaign. According to the Huffington Post Live, “The Obama administration is quietly considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn the ban on gay marriage a step that would demonstrate the presidents deepening commitment to rights for gay couples.” Based on this information, we can view the donations as a way to urge President Obama to help Boise in his fight against Proposition 8. Stephen Robert -- Group # 10 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: William Maher -- Group # 1 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Mark Pincus -- Group # 2 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: George Soros -- Group # 3 *Business Executive, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1501285%7CSoros Fund Management *Total donated to this Super PAC -- $1M *Other PACs donated to: **American Bridge 21st Century -- $1M **House Majority PAC -- $675K **Majority PAC -- $100K *Muckety Map *Wikipedia page: George Soros *Political motivations: Prior to 2004, Soros donated only modestly to political causes in the United States. However in the 2004 election, he donated over $23M to various 527 groups who dedicated themselves to preventing President Bush's reelection. Soros claimed that removing President Bush from office was "a matter of life and death" in an interview with The Washington Post. Soros claims that speeches made by Bush remind him of Nazi ideology, claiming that Supremacist Ideology runs the White House while Bush is in office. The reason behind Soros' need to remove Bush from office is that he claims that the world looks to America for order. The problem is, because of Bush's "war on terrorism", America is seen as advocating pre-emptive war which leads to innocent victims. To this end, he donated to organizations such as America Coming Together or ACT and various other 527 groups. Soros is criticized for working towards ending donations to political causes by "soft-money" and then using the method himself in funding Democrat supporting organizations in 2004. Kareem Ahmed -- Group # 4 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map [2] *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Franklin Haney -- Group # 5 *Title, Corporation (link to Bloomberg Businessweek company overview) *Total donated to this Super PAC -- amount *Other PACs donated to: **Name -- amount **Name -- amount *Muckety Map (link to) *Wikipedia page: Donor Name (link to) *Political motivations: Morgan Freeman -- Group # 6 *Actor, Self-Employed *Born in 1937, Morgan Freeman has made a name for himself in the Hollywood movie industry. He has appeared in numerous films throughout his career, but is best known for his roles in Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven and Batman Begins ''(Biography.com) *'Total donated to this Super PAC''' -- $1M *'Other PACs donated to': **Priorities USA Action-- $1M *Muckety Map *'Wikipedia page':Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman Wikipedia Page *'Political motivations:' Morgan Freeman does not have an extensive public record of political affiliation. However, he endorsed President Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections, though he did not join his campaign. He has also narrated some of Obama's campaign ads including the one entitled, "The last thing we should do is turn back now." In 2011 on the ''Piers Morgan Tonight ''show, Freeman accused the Tea Party of racism, after a comment from them that they would do anything to get Obama out of office. He went on to say "America should be better than that." Freeman's political motivations were social and personal.His financial contributions were due to his support of Obama and his policies.